How to fix npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 134 npm ERR! Exit status 134 in npm | DevErrors

How to fix "npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 134 npm ERR! Exit status 134"

1Increase Node.js heap size

The primary fix—allocate more memory to Node.js:

bash

# Linux/macOS
export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"
npm run build

# Windows Command Prompt
set NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=4096
npm run build

# Windows PowerShell
$env:NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"
npm run build

Common values: 4096 (4GB), 8192 (8GB). Don't exceed your system RAM.

2Add memory flag to package.json scripts

Make the fix permanent in your project:

json

{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "node --max-old-space-size=4096 node_modules/.bin/webpack",
    "build:prod": "NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=4096 react-scripts build"
  }
}

3Clean install dependencies

Reset npm state before retrying:

bash

# Delete existing artifacts
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json

# Clear npm cache
npm cache clean --force

# Use npm ci for cleaner install
npm ci

4Verify 64-bit Node.js is installed

32-bit Node.js has lower memory limits:

bash

# Check Node.js architecture
node -p "process.arch"

# Should output: x64
# If it shows x86 or ia32, reinstall 64-bit version

# On Windows, download x64 installer from nodejs.org
# On Linux/macOS with nvm:
nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=node

5Increase Docker container memory

If running in Docker, allocate more memory:

bash

# Run container with 4GB memory
docker run --memory=4g myimage

# In docker-compose.yml
services:
  app:
    mem_limit: 4g

Also increase Docker Desktop's VM memory in Settings → Resources.

6Increase Linux file watcher limits

On Linux, insufficient file watchers can cause related issues:

bash

# Check current limit
cat /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

# Increase temporarily
echo 65536 | sudo tee /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

# Make permanent
echo "fs.inotify.max_user_watches=65536" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

Advanced notes

For CI/CD pipelines with memory constraints, consider splitting builds or using incremental compilation. Webpack's cache option and Next.js's incremental builds reduce memory usage.

If using node-sass (deprecated), migrate to Dart Sass which doesn't have the same native compilation memory issues:

bash

npm uninstall node-sass
npm install sass

For Angular projects, the Angular CLI has its own memory management. Use the --configuration=production flag which enables ahead-of-time compilation and may use memory more efficiently.

How to fix npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 134 npm ERR! Exit status 134 in npm

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How to fix "npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE npm ERR! errno 134 npm ERR! Exit status 134"

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